Iran's outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a farewell ceremony that publicizing his Holocaust denial had been one of his major achievements as president of the Islamic Republic. “That was a taboo topic that no one in the West allowed to be heard,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Sunday, according to the 'Fars' news agency. “We put it forward at the global level. That broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime.”
Ahmadinejad also called for the Arab world to work together to punish Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. President-elect Hassan Rohani described Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel remarks as “hate rhetoric” that had brought the country to the brink of war, the German news agency dpa reported.
Since he was first elected, Ahmadinejad repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel and called the Holocaust a “myth”. He said in 2005: “Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II, Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps. Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is taken to prison or gets condemned.. Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true...if the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe – like in Germany, Austria or other countries – to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe. You offer part of Europe and we will support it."
The remarks led to a worldwide wave of condemnation. The same year, the Iranian president also hosted a conference on the Holocaust which was attended by leading international revisionists and Holocaust deniers.
